Rural mail box

ABSTRACT

A mail box is provided with a flag adapted to be raised when a resident places mail in a box to be picked up by the carrier, and when the carrier opens the door of the box to withdraw the mail and shuts the door, the flag will automatically move to a downward inoperative position, without the necessity for the carrier having to manually reach out and push the flag to its down position.

United States Patent Emil F. Kreycik G-6071 Beecher Road R.D., Flint,Mich. 48504 l2l] Appl. Nov 834,648

[22] Filed June 19, 1969 [45] Patented June 1, I97] [72] inventor [54]RURAL MAIL BOX 1 Claim, 8 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl 232/35 A47g 29/12 Field of Search 232/35, 34

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,905,378 9/1959 Cox et al232/35 3,467,303 9/1969 Saatzer i. 232/35 Primary ExaminerFrancis K.Zugel Att0rney-Victor J. Evans and Co.

ABSTRACT: A mail box is provided with a flag adapted to be raised when aresident places mail in a box to be picked up by the carrier, and whenthe carrier opens the door of the box to withdraw the mail and shuts thedoor, the flag will automatically move to a downward inoperativeposition, without the necessity for the carrier having to manually reachout and push the flag to its down position.

PATENTEDJUN nan 3,581,980

"- SHEET 1 BF 2 l 2-- /Z I JNVENTOR.

ifM/L f.

ATMRANEYS.

KREYC/K.

RURAL MAIL BOX BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common practicefor-residents having 'rural mail boxes to post their mail by placing itin the rural delivery box and then raising the flag so that on his nextround, the mail carrier will be apprised of the fact that there is mailin the box to be picked up. Assuming that the carrier has no mail to bedeposited in the box, he will be informed bythe position of the flag atthe box thatthere is mail to be picked up. Ordinarily, the carrier willopen the door of .the mail box, withdraw the mail to be picked up,.shutthe door, and then reach from his car to push to a downward position theflag which-has been lifted by the resident and which is normally held invertical position by friction at its pivot point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A' flag of generally conventional nature ismounted at one side of the mail box and itspivotal connection with thebox is in the form of a pin-and-slot arrangement whereby the flag may beswung to its upper position and then moved downwardly to the limit ofthe-pin-and-slot arrangement after the resident has opened the mail boxdoor and placed in position therein one or'more pieces of mail to bepicked up by a carrier.

The bottom of the door is provided with an angled arm clamped theretoand having pivotal connection at a point spaced from the pivot of thedoor with the lower end of a link, the upper end of which is slotted toreceive a pin carried by the shank of the flag. When the flag is up toindicate the presence in the box of mail to be picked up, the carrierwill open the door to withdraw the mail and the lever arm pushes thelink upwardly to lift the shank of the flag to the limit of itspin-and-slot connection with a supporting socket against the the mailfrom the box, the carrier will swing the box to closed position whichpulls downwardly on the link to move the bottom of the slot thereinbeneath the pin carried by the shank of the-flag, thus allowing thelatter to continue its last movement to inoperative position. Theoperations referred to take place automatically upon the opening andclosing of the mail box door, thus making it unnecessary forthe carrierto reach from his mail vehicle to push the flag down manually to itsinoperative position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a sideelevation of a rural mail box showing the door closed and the flag inupper operative positlon;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the door moved almost to its fully openposition and with the flag starting to move downwardly;

' FIG. 3 is a similar view showing the door fully open with the flagcontinuing its downward movement;

FIG. 4 is a similar view after the door has again been closed and withthe flag in its inoperative position;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the door end of the mail box as suggestedby line 5-5 in FIG. I;

FIG. E5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 6-6 of FIG.4;

FIG. 7 is a detail section. on line 7-7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a similar view on line 8-8 of FIG. I.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT tional manner. I

The box is provided outwardly of one sidewall 22 thereof with a flag 24carried by one end of a shank 26. The opposite end of the shank 26 isprovided with a longitudinal slot 28 through which passes a pivot pin 30carried by a supporting socket indicated as a whole by the numeral 32.This socket is formed with a vertical slot 34 (FIG. 8) formed betweenflanges 36 and 38 fixed as at 40 to the wall 22 of the mail .box. Theflange 38 is of limited vertical height as shown in FIGS. I to 4,inclusive, whereas the flange 36 extends substantially higher and iscoincident with the upper edge of the wall 42 which forms the slot 34.The junction between the wall 42 and the upper limit of the flange 38forms a shoulder 44 on which the shank 26 is supported when the flag isin its lower position as shown in FIG. 4.

A U-shaped clamp 48 extends around the shank 26 of the flag as shown inFIG. 7 and is clamped in position with respect thereto as at 50. Theouter wall of the clamp 48 carries a pivot pin 52 extending through aslot 54 in an elongated link 56. It will be apparent that link 56 ispivoted to the shank 26 of the flag by the pivot pin 52, while suchpivot pin is free to slide in the slot 54.

The lower edge of the door I4 adjacent the sidewall 22 has clampedthereto, as shown in FIG. 6, a lever member 58 provided with a lever arm60 carrying a pivot pin 62 offset from the pivot 16 of the door. Thispivot pin passes through the lower end of the link 56.

OPERATION The parts normally occupy the positions shown in FIG. 4. Whenthe resident desires to post a piece of mail, he will open the door 14and insert the mail into the mail box. Since the pivot pin 52 is locatedintermediate the ends of the slot 54, the link 56 is free to moveupwardly and to the right from the position in FIG. I when the door isopened. Having placed mail in the box, the resident will close the doorand then manually move the flag to the vertical position, the link 56swinging about its'pivot 62. Having reached the vertical position, theshank 26 is free to move downwardly vertically so that the pin 30 willbe arranged in the upper end of the slot 23 as shown in FIG. i, the flagthus being held in vertical position by engagement of the edges of theshank 26 with the edges of the slot 34.

When the mail carrier then passes, he will be apprised of mail in thebox to be picked up. The carrier will swing the door downwardly from theposition shown in FIG. I, and when the door reaches the position shownin FIG. 2, the lower end of the slot 54 will engage the pin 52 and liftthe shank of the flag from the socket 32. When the door is then fullyopened, as shown in FIG. 3, the link 56 will have crossed over the pivotaxis of the pin 30, whereupon the flag 24 will move downwardly to theposition shown in FIG. 3. It is desirable to arrest movement of the flagintermediate its two positions to prevent the edge of the shank 26 fromstriking hard against the shoulder 44'. At such an intermediate point,as shown in FIG. 3, the pin 52 will engage the bottom of the slot 54 toprevent at this time further downward movement of the flag.

Having withdrawn mail from the box, the carrier will now swing the door14 back to its closed position. This movement of the door pullsdownwardly and forwardly on the link 56 to move the bottom of the slot54 away from the pin 52, whereuport the flag will continue itsdownwardly movement to the position shown in FIG. 4. Thus it isunnecessary for the carrier to reach further from his vehicle to pushthe flag to its inoperative position after he has withdrawn mail fromthe box. In other words, he will open the door, withdraw the mail fromthe box, and then close the door, and during the latter operation, theflag will automatically return to its inoperative'position. Thisobviously saves time and effort on the part of the carrier. Theattachment of the device toa mail box is relatively simple and its usedoes not violate any postal regulations regarding the alteration of mailboxes. I

Fromthe foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided animproved rural mail box which accomplishes all of the objects of thisinvention and others, including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance.

As various embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and asmany modifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

lclaim:

l. A signal for a rural mail box having a sidewall and a door pivoted atthe' lower end thereof, comprising a flag having a shank extendingvertically downwardly when in operative signaling position, pivot meansconnecting the lower end of said shank to said sidewall, and operatingmeans connected between said door and said shank for transmittingmovement thereto out of vertical position when said door is opened,

whereby, when said door is closed, said flag drops to a horizontalinoperative position adjacent said wall, said operating means comprisinga lever carried by said door and a link having a longitudinal slot andconnected between said lever and said shank, said shank having anadjustable pin extending transverse therefrom, slidably secured throughsaid longitudinal slot and positionable along any desired point alongthe length of said shank, said link having its lower end pivotallyconnected to said lever at a point eccentric to the pivot of said doorwhereby when the latter is opened, said link is moved in an upwarddirection to transmit a force to said shank to incline the latter fromthe vertical whereby when said door is closed, said flag will drop tohorizontal position.

1. A signal for a rural mail box having a sidewall and a door pivoted atthe lower end thereof, comprising a flag having a shank extendingvertically downwardly when in operative signaling position, pivot meansconnecting the lower end of said shank to said sidewall, and operatingmeans connected between said door and said shank for transmittingmovement thereto out of vertical position when said door is opened,whereby, when said door is closed, said flag drops to a horizontalinoperative position adjacent said wall, said operating means comprisinga lever carried by said door and a link having a longitudinal slot andconnected between said lever and said shank, said shank having anadjustable pin extending transverse therefrom, slidably secured throughsaid longitudinal slot and positionable along any desired point alongthe length of said shank, said link having its lower end pivotallyconnected to said lever at a point eccentric to the pivot of said doorwhereby when the latter is opened, said link is moved in an upwarddirection to transmit a force to said shank to incline the latter fromthe vertical whereby when said door is closed, said flag will drop tohorizontal position.